Jon Gruden: Raiders to start Trent Brown at right tackle

Trent Brown, then with the Patriots, got a smile from coach Bill Belichick as the team won the AFC Championship.

Photo: Elise Amendola / Associated Press

Trent Brown, who signed a record contract for offensive linemen with the Raiders in March, will start out playing right tackle, head coach Jon Gruden said Friday.

Kolton Miller, the Raiders’ 2018 first-round pick who started at left tackle as a rookie, will remain as quarterback Derek Carr’s blind-side protector.

Brown played left tackle last season for the Super Bowl-champion Patriots and signed a four-year, $66 million contract with the Raiders on the first day of free agency. The average of $16.5 million per year made Brown the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league.

The money involved also suggested the Raiders might be investing in a new left tackle. According to OverTheCap, just two NFL right tackles earn an average of more than $10 million per year: Denver’s Ja’Wuan James ($12.75 million) and Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson ($11.25 million).

At left tackle, 15 players (excluding Brown, who is listed as a left tackle) have contracts averaging more than $10 million per year — including seven who earn $13 million or more.

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The Raiders, though, will start the offseason with Miller at the position where he started all 16 games last season. Brown has experience on the right side, having played there primarily for three seasons with the 49ers. Brandon Parker, who started 12 games at right tackle last season as a rookie following an injury to Donald Penn, will start out as a swing tackle, Gruden said.

“We like that as a launching pad for us,” Gruden said. “Trent played very well at right tackle for San Francisco, played left tackle very well for New England. It gives us some versatility. And that’s how we’re going to start the show.”

In 2018, Miller played through a knee injury that limited his mobility for part of the season. The Raiders’ line overall was affected by injuries and allowed 52 sacks, tied for fifth-most in the league.

Starting Brown at right tackle may reflect a depth of pass-rushers in the AFC West. The Broncos (Von Miller and Bradley Chubb) and the Chargers (Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa) regularly have top-level edge rushers lining up on both sides of the front. Von Miller, in particular, rushed primarily from the right side of the offensive line last season.

Brown said in March that his positional preference was: “Whatever is going to help the team.”

Gruden also said Friday that Gabe Jackson will remain at right guard. General manager Mike Mayock recently said Denzelle Good, who signed with the Raiders late last year, is penciled in at left guard. Gruden, though, said “the door is wide open at left guard” and: “We’re going to continue to look at players that can come in and compete at that position.”

Gruden also left the door open to the Raiders’ initial approach at running back. First-round pick Josh Jacobs is expected to feature prominently in the running game, especially after free-agent addition Isaiah Crowell suffered a season-ending Achilles injury this week. Doug Martin, who re-signed with the Raiders after Crowell’s injury, “will be a great resource to (Jacobs)” but “can also still play,” Gruden said.

“We’re comfortable with Doug,” Gruden said. “I think Jalen Richard is a really good back, and he wants to be a three-down back. And we just paid him a lot of money because of his skill. And I think DeAndre Washington, who was hurt most of last year, is also going to be a contributor. … Jacobs has got a lot to learn in our system and he’s got to beat out some good backs.”

Reminded of Chris Warren III, who led the Raiders in rushing last preseason and then spent the regular season on injured reserve, Gruden said: “I didn’t even bring him in.”

“He’s learned a lot, I think, about our offense and about this profession,” Gruden said. “And he’s got some pretty good genes — his dad was one hell of a back for the Seahawks. So we’ll see where he is. We’re anxious to put him back in circulation as well.”